AUTO RACING

AUTO RACING
NASCAR news
BAD DAY: A day that started badly for Ryan Newman quickly got worse in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400. An engine change sent him to the back of the field after he qualified 11th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. A failure of his right front tire on lap 91 sent him into the wall and then home after finishing last in the 43-car field. "It was just the tires," he said of Sunday's early end after Saturday's engine problems. "We got behind the eight ball yesterday and that hurt some. Getting into the wall hurt a whole lot more. Goodyear's got some work to do." A right front tire failure also sent Reed Sorenson into the wall on the 41st lap. He finished 40th. Phil Holmer, Goodyear field manager for NASCAR, said the problem was more typical of a short track in the summertime than on a high-speed oval where late winter temperatures struggled to reach the low 50s. "We found melted beading on those two tires. That surprised us. It's a Martinsville type of situation and doesn't happen on the big tracks," he said. After Saturday's readings in the low to mid 40s, Holmer said some of the teams may have underestimated the slightly higher temperatures in the mid 50s on Sunday.
Associated Press
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